On 11 June 2025, the MHH and the Gastroenterological Society will be hosting a discussion on the culture of remembrance and responsibility in medicine.
Many doctors were among the millions of Jews persecuted under National Socialism (NS). In 1932, the list of members of the German Society for Gastroenterology, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS) counted 520 people. The Nazis cancelled 120 Jewish names within two years. The DGVS is commemorating these people with the "Against Forgetting" project. "The fact that numerous members were excluded from our specialist society within a very short period of time after the beginning of the Nazi dictatorship is a depressing chapter in our history," says Prof Dr Heiner Wedemeyer, Director of the Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectiology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School (MHH) and President of the society, which today has 7,000 members. "We want to sensitise the younger generation to how quickly exclusion and discrimination can become socially acceptable - and how important it is to stand up for democratic values and an open scientific culture."
Next Wednesday, 11 June 2025, experts will be discussing with the audience at the MHH how to create a sustainable culture of remembrance and how the medical profession can strengthen its ethical values in the face of growing challenges such as financial pressure and social polarisation.
MHH and DGVS invite interested parties to the event on
- Wednesday, 11 June 2025,
- from 5pm to 7pm,
- in lecture theatre H, building J1, Carl-Neuberg-Str.1, 30625 Hannover.
Taking part in the panel discussion will be:
- Prof Dr Thomas Beddies, Deputy Director of the Institute for the History of Medicine and Ethics in Medicine at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- Prof Dr Sabine Salloch, Director of the MHH Institute for Ethics, History and Philosophy of Medicine
- Prof. Dr Andreas Neubauer, Head of the Centre for Personalised Medicine at the Clinic for Haematology, Oncology and Immunology at the Philipps University of Marburg
Two presentations will introduce the topic: Dr Harro Jenss, archivist of the DGVS, and Dr Friederike Klein, MHH Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectiology and Endocrinology, explain the effects of the Nazi laws on Jewish doctors. Prof Dr Thomas Beddies will report on how the "Führerschule der Deutschen Ärzteschaft" (Leading School of the German Medical Profession) pushed the boundaries of medical ethics in the Third Reich.
The MHH sees itself as a place of internationality and tolerance and speaks out against xenophobia, marginalisation and racism.
Participation in the event is free of charge. Registration is requested at mehr.verena@mh-hannover.de.
Online participation is also possible. Interested parties can find the link on the website at https://www.dgvs.de/dgvs/geschichte/gegen-das-vergessen/. Further information about the "Against Forgetting" project can also be found there.